Is Elio Worth It To Buy Vs Just Keeping A Paid-off Car?

[Gizmo]

The Elio will be my & car. Not to mention the wear & tear I won't be putting on the truck. Bet the tires for the Elio are quite a bit cheaper too...and only 3 of'em.

 

[OldAFGuy]

Hi All,

Did some calculations on gas savings ROI for the Elio vs my 2005 Mercury Montego daily driver.

Merc mpg= 25 mixed highway-city this is a long-term average via the on-board computer.

So at 12,000 miles per year (which is close) and $2.85/gal gas. I save $960 per year compared to a 84mpg Elio.

Right at 7 yrs to save the $6800 target price of the Elio.

If the Elio comes in at say 70mpg and $7600 then the yearly savings is $879 and the payoff is 8.6 yrs vs the Montego.

If I drive my '05 Toyota Matrix XR AWD the mpg is right at 30mpg. The payoff is 9.2yrs (target) or 11.6yrs (likely specs)

I don't know what the insurance rate difference will be. Nor do I know the maintenance cost difference. Perhaps someone with both car and motorcycle insurance rate experience can give some data on that.

Thoughts?

OldAFGuy

Although it is subjective I think the safety and security of a full-sized steel car should be included in the calculation somehow. Also the bad weather capability of the something like the Matrix AWD is significantly superior to something like an Elio. Each potential buyer has to evaluate that value if any personally it seems to me.

Elio will have to answer that concern if they intend to move beyond the early adopters if they hope to get anywhere near 250k vehicle sales the first year of production. After all big SUVs continue to sell well even in the face of high gas prices - driven largely in my opinion by their perceived safety for the wimmins and kiddies.

 

[JEBar]

safety is a valid concern .... keeping in mind that by law, an Elio is a motorcycle, it will be the safest on the road .... it will be the only one with documented crash testing .... customers looking for a vehicle built like a SUV, will not be in the market for an autocycle .... it will be a good fit a hug market but not a good fit for every market

 

[slinches]

While the Elio may technically be a motorcycle (or autocycle, eventually) by federal law, I don't think the general population will see it that way. I'm guessing people will put it on the same level for safety as similarly sized economy cars like the Smart ForTwo or Honda Fit. Not that those are considered exceptionally safe compared to much larger cars, but they're nowhere near as scary as a motorcycle.

 

[Ekh]

Yeah, that is impressive. To simplify it even further, based on those numbers, if you were to just give someone your Forester as a gift that it would be cheaper for them to buy a brand new Elio than to insure, maintain and fuel their "free" Subaru.

that's the truth. But I will keep the suby to haul my monster lawn mower for service a couple of times a year. An it will ALWAYS climb the curvy, hilly driveway in the snow.

 

[Ian442]

Not when that paid off car is slowly falling apart. Fuel gauge crapped out tonight... going to be carrying can plus odometer to figure out gas from now on.

 

[Hightech]

People keep forgetting you own the car at the end of these calculations along with the major factor of deprecation
(deprecation gives Elio a STRONG lead in 2010+ car calcs due to 50% of $6,800 is only $3,400 while 50% of $14,000 is $7,000)


REALISTIC approach based on OP, Old car VS Elio:

2005 Mercury Montego:
Current Value: ~$4,000
Gas: $1368 /yr OR $6,840 /5yr
Resale Value in 5 years: ~$1,000 (15yrs old)

2017 Elio One:
Current Value: $7,000
Gas: $488 /yr OR $2,442 /5yr
Resale Value in 5 years: ~$3,000 (5yrs old)

Loss in value + Gas Price + Maintences (unknown/exlcuded) = Cost $$$

2005 Mercury
$3,000 loss + $6,840 gas = $9,840 + $$$ maintenance and repairs (expensive for a 10+yr old)

2017 Elio (Mercury cost 50%+ more)
$4,000 loss + 2,442 gas = $6,442 + $ maintenance and repairs (cheaper due to warranty and not as old)​

Like, Please, K, Thanks, Bye

 

[Critter]

safety is a valid concern .... keeping in mind that by law, an Elio is a motorcycle, it will be the safest on the road .... it will be the only one with documented crash testing .... customers looking for a vehicle built like a SUV, will not be in the market for an autocycle .... it will be a good fit a hug market but not a good fit for every market

Well almost, my neighbor traded up to a new gold wing after the crash tests were presented for the air bag. Elio will still be much safer than a Gold Wing

 

[Ty]

Although it is subjective I think the safety and security of a full-sized steel car should be included in the calculation somehow. Also the bad weather capability of the something like the Matrix AWD is significantly superior to something like an Elio. Each potential buyer has to evaluate that value if any personally it seems to me.

Elio will have to answer that concern if they intend to move beyond the early adopters if they hope to get anywhere near 250k vehicle sales the first year of production. After all big SUVs continue to sell well even in the face of high gas prices - driven largely in my opinion by their perceived safety for the wimmins and kiddies.

I think all wheel drive needs are often over-rated in today's electronic traction control days. This obviously doesn't apply to everyone, but here's my direct experience with 4X4 trucks and the snow...
4 years at Great Falls, MT
1.5 years at Dayton, OH
4 years at Ogden, UT
4 years at Minot, ND

I've pulled people out of ditches for sure and I've always had my 4X4 truck. How many times have I actually really NEEDED 4 X 4 to get where I needed to go? Twice. Once coming down the hill from Showdown Ski Area and the second one during a blizzard in Minot, ND. I was coming home and a kid in a Silverado passed me pretty quick in the left lane before jumping into the median, crossing both our lanes again, going through the ditch to the right, pulling back out and then continuing on down the road at about the same speed. He didn't learn his lesson that time, I guess. Anyway, I'll never give up my 4X4 because "I need it in case the weather turns bad" but I've lived in some snowy places in the last 15 years and have watched many front wheel drive cars do just fine. The Elio will probably do just fine in most snowy conditions. I'll trust it fine enough. It doesn't hurt that it doesn't exactly pile up the snow here in Albuquerque...

 

[Jeff Porter]

Although it is subjective I think the safety and security of a full-sized steel car should be included in the calculation somehow. Also the bad weather capability of the something like the Matrix AWD is significantly superior to something like an Elio. Each potential buyer has to evaluate that value if any personally it seems to me.

Elio will have to answer that concern if they intend to move beyond the early adopters if they hope to get anywhere near 250k vehicle sales the first year of production. After all big SUVs continue to sell well even in the face of high gas prices - driven largely in my opinion by their perceived safety for the wimmins and kiddies.

safety is a valid concern .... keeping in mind that by law, an Elio is a motorcycle, it will be the safest on the road .... it will be the only one with documented crash testing .... customers looking for a vehicle built like a SUV, will not be in the market for an autocycle .... it will be a good fit a huge market but not a good fit for every market

It's a slippery slope when you try to evaluate, buying an Elio vs. keeping your paid-off older car.

I'm pretty much aligned with what JEBar said in his last comment... each person's needs can be quantified to a point, and then the needs sort of blur into wants. Is a full-sized car like my older '01 Cadillac Deville more safe than a '17 Elio? We don't know for sure, but most of us would feel more safe in the Deville.

I believe someone, in another thread, showed a recent direct comparison test, a video of a 60's (approximately) big ol' heavy car running head-on into a I believe a 2009 Chevy Malibu. The dummy in the old car was crunched big time, while the dummy in the smaller newer car was pretty much untouched. That old car wasn't as safe, despite it being heavier and bigger.

Again, one would think that with new technology, a 2014 Chevy Suburban would be more safe than a 2014 Chevy compact car.

Sorry for the safety rant; for each person or family, there are needs or wants that may be higher priority than another person or lower than another. Joe Schmo may want a full-sized car for safety and for driving in bad weather and holding 5 people comfortably and maybe gas prices are a concern but not a big concern. So, Joe would want to buy a car that fits his wants and needs. Does the Elio fit those wants and needs? Nope.

This is why there are so many different sizes of vehicles... two-seaters, mini compact, sub compact, compact, midsize, large, minivan, crossovers, compact SUV, mini SUV, mid-size SUV, and on and on.

We've had the discussion before: some of us think that if gas prices stay relatively low, a family may buy an SUV instead of an Elio. That's why Elio Motors says that for many people, their vehicle is an "and" car. Most families have at least 2 vehicles. Those families could have a bigger vehicle AND an Elio.